Council Tax Support matters. It helps thousands of residents on low incomes meet a bill they might otherwise struggle to afford. That is why Croydon has continued to provide substantial support despite facing some of the most difficult council finances in London.
Our current scheme costs around £39m a year. Approximately £14m supports pensioners through arrangements prescribed nationally. Of the remaining £25m for working-age households, around £20m is ultimately borne locally.
The help we provide is significant. Disabled residents who are not working can currently receive up to 100% support, the maximum possible. Other working-age residents can receive up to 75%. Croydon also has an existing Council Tax hardship scheme.
However, support can only be protected over the long term if it remains affordable. Following the financial wreckage left by the former Labour administration, I promised residents that Croydon would confront its finances honestly. This review also forms part of the council’s commitment to the Government to examine every reasonable option available to us.
So we are commencing a six-week public consultation about the Council Tax Support packages we offer.
No preferred package has been chosen. The report models several possible combinations, alongside keeping the current scheme. It also asks about transitional protection, additional hardship support, increasing the capital limit and disregarding income from war pensions and compensation schemes.
My tests are straightforward. Support should be focused on those who need it most. The scheme should encourage work rather than penalise it. Any change must avoid sudden and unaffordable cliff edges. It must also be fair to the Croydon households whose Council Tax helps fund the scheme.
We will pay particular attention to residents who have the least ability to increase their income, including disabled people and families with very young children. A full equality assessment will be completed before any final recommendation is made.
No doubt there will be political opponents who will take the most severe illustration in the report and present it as a decision. That would be untrue. In actuality, the previous Labour Council introduced the present income-banded scheme in April 2022, delivering a £4.4m saving. Reviewing the scheme is, therefore, hardly a new or radical principle.
If Labour believes nothing should change, it is entitled to make that argument. It should also explain how it would fund that commitment and what it would do differently elsewhere in the Council’s budget.
Residents deserve an honest debate, not manufactured outrage. I hope as many people as possible will read the information, examine the choices and take part in the consultation before Full Council makes its decision next February.
